"Alistair J Murray" wrote in message
Both of the above links are to articles by the same guy.
The big difference between fluid dynamics and traffic flow is that molecules in a fluid stay the same distance apart irrespective of the speed of flow. Vehicles have to spread further apart as speed increases if they are to maintain the recommended 2 second gap (there have been attempts to link cars together so that the distance can be reduced to a minimum safely, but this is not the case for motorists at present).
If you take the example of how many cars will fit on a mile of motorway at various speeds in each lane, buttuming each car is 14 feet long and they are mph. If you consider the number of cars pbutting a certain point per minute the figures are 25.9, 27.8 and 28.8 respectively. So there is hardly any increase in capacity even if the speed is quadrupled.
Driving at a steady speed is always going to be the best for flow, which is why it worked for the author of the article and also why it is the principle behind the variable speed limit on part of the M25.
The author of the above links buttumes that the alternatives are for two lanes of traffic to zip merge just before the obstruction or to have an argument about queue jumpers just before the obstruction. He doesn't consider what normally happens in the UK where most drivers form an orderly queue long before the obstruction and regard those who use the open lane to get ahead as queue jumpers.
Ian
